Two Men Charged in 2023 Houston Homicide After Victim Found in Burning Vehicle

HOUSTON, Texas. Two men have been charged in connection with the 2023 killing of a man whose body was discovered inside the trunk of a burning vehicle in southwest Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.

Investigators identified the victim as 41-year-old Adrean Arrington.

One suspect, 44-year-old Morris Taylor Jr., has been charged with aggravated kidnapping, murder, arson and tampering with evidence. Taylor is currently in federal custody.

The second suspect, 55-year-old Steven Ryan Henry, has been charged with arson and tampering with evidence. He was arrested July 8 and booked into the Harris County Jail.

According to the Houston Police Department, officers and Houston Fire Department personnel responded at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 9, 2023, to a vehicle fire in the 14500 block of Nelson Street.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, paramedics discovered a body inside the trunk of the vehicle.

The homicide investigation determined that Taylor allegedly shot Arrington to death at a motel in the 13900 block of South Main Street.

Police allege that Henry then helped Taylor place Arrington’s body in the trunk of the victim’s vehicle before the two men drove it to Nelson Street. Investigators said the vehicle was covered in gasoline and intentionally set on fire in an effort to destroy evidence.

Taylor was arrested on Jan. 25, 2024, on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and has remained in federal custody since that time. On July 1, 2026, he was formally charged in Arrington’s killing.

The investigation remains ongoing.